People communicate in many ways over many types of devices and channels, including by voice, by audio/video, and by text or the like. Voice communications include audio over landline telephones such as connected to POTS (plain old telephone service) lines or PBX (private branch exchange) lines, and cellular and satellite telephones, as well as voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). Audiovisual communications include video tele-conference (VTC), which also may be Internet Protocol-based communication. Text communications include electronic mail, instant messaging, pagers with text messaging, and so forth.
Some contemporary devices provide multiple ways to communicate, e.g., pocket sized personal computers may have a cellular telephone connection to place audio calls, and a wireless internet connection for sending and receiving electronic mail messages and instant messaging communications. Some mobile devices (e.g., a Smartphone) are considered to be more like telephones, but likewise provide Internet access, and may handle text messaging generally.
One problem with any communications device is that users do not necessarily want to receive communications all the time. For example, in the past when telephone was the main (or only practical) way to reach someone remotely, a telephone user in an important client meeting would tell a receptionist to “hold my calls” in order to avoid being interrupted. Some contemporary telephone systems provide a “do not disturb” feature that essentially does the same thing, such as to route any incoming calls to a voicemail system.
While this is beneficial for telephone calls, such an automatic do not disturb feature does not help with other types of communications that can be similarly distracting. For example, a visible notification may appear on a user's main display screen when an email message is received. Further, the conventional do not disturb feature on a telephone is little more than a switching mechanism that does not discriminate based on the source of the call, take action based on the type of call, or perform other operations that are more intelligent with respect to how an incoming communication is handled, that is, in a way that resembles how a human receptionist might act given the same communication.
What is needed is an automated do not disturb system and related methods for handling contemporary communications in a computer system. The system and method should operate in what is perceived to be an intelligent manner, and be fairly comprehensive in handling communications, as well as flexible and extensible to handle many user scenarios and usage patterns. At the same time, the do not disturb system and method should be straightforward for users to implement and activate.